2015 Summit League Softball Championships Page

The Basics
Score:  No. 5 South Dakota State 7, No. 4 Western Illinois 6
Records: South Dakota State (23-27), Western Illinois (18-23)
Location: Ellig Sports Complex – Fargo, N.D.

FARGO, N.D. – No. 5 seed South Dakota State tied a Summit League softball championship tournament record by hitting four home runs in their 7-6 victory over No. 4 Western Illinois in a back-and-forth battle Thursday afternoon at the Ellig Sports Complex.

Elyse Eitel hit two home runs in the game, including a two-run shot in the top of the fifth, to help lead the Jacks in the win-or-go-home matchup. Eitel was two-for-three on the day with three RBI.

Western Illinois took an early 1-0 in the top of the first inning when Tierney Bottino hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Sammy Marshall.

Eitel tied the game 1-1 with her first home run in the top of the second before WIU re-took the lead 2-1 on a Lia Romeo RBI-single in the bottom of the third.

Devan Larsen and Cassidy Vlot hit back-to-back solo home runs in the fourth inning for SDSU, giving the Jacks a 3-2 lead. It was Larsen's league-leading 16^th homer of the season. Western Illinois responded with three runs off four hits in their half of the fourth, to take the lead again 5-3.

The fifth inning is where South Dakota State took the lead for good, scoring four runs on three hits, including Eitel's second home run of the day. Jacks led 7-5 in the middle of the fifth inning and closed the door on the Leathernecks in the final two innings to secure their 7-6 win.

Turning Point
South Dakota State scored four runs in the top half of the fifth inning to take a 7-5 lead. Western Illinois would score one run in the bottom half of the inning but failed to tie the game in the sixth or seventh inning.

Inside The Box Score

• Devan Larsen (SDSU) hit her league-leading 16^th home run of the season.
• Elyse Eitel of SDSU was two-for-three with two home runs, three RBI and two runs scored.
• Western Illinois out-hit South Dakota State, 11-9.
• Tierney Bottino drove in three of WIU's six runs on the day.
• Jackrabbit starter Bryana Clark went 4+ innings while giving up 10 hits, five earned runs and striking out two.
• WIU starter Kayla Kirkpatrick pitched 3.2 innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs with three strikeouts

News & Notes

• SDSU tied a Summit League tournament record with four home runs in the ballgame.
• It is the Jackrabbits' first tournament game win in program history.
• Devan Larsen extended her SDSU single-season home run record to 16.
• Sammy Marshall stole her league-leading 26^th base of the season.

Up Next
South Dakota State advances to face top-seed and host North Dakota State Friday at noon CT. 

The Basics
Score: No. 3 IUPUI 13, No. 6 Fort Wayne 0 (5 inn.)
Records: IUPUI (32-16), Fort Wayne (3-45)
Location: Ellig Sports Complex – Fargo, N.D.

FARGO, N.D. – All-league pitchers Brooke Boetjer and Emili Escamilla combined to throw a five-inning no-hitter and Roni Patterson drove in five runs to help IUPUI to a 13-0 victory over Fort Wayne Thursday afternoon at the Ellig Sports Complex. The Jaguars advance to play second-seeded South Dakota Friday.

The starter Boetjer earned the victory by going three innings, not allowing a hit and striking out three while walking two batters. Escamilla would pitch the final two innings without giving up any hits and striking out a pair and walking one hitter.

All nine batters came to the plate in the bottom of the first for the Jaguars. Patterson opened the scoring with a double to left center that scored Ali Mosier. IUPUI would score five in the inning off three base-hits and one error to lead 5-0 after the first.

Patterson broke the game wide open in the second inning with a long three-run bomb that drove in Morgan Schlobohm and Mosier. Patterson would finish the game going three-for-four from the plate with five RBI and scoring twice.

IUPUI would tack on four more runs in the bottom half of the fourth to extend their lead to 13-0. Patterson, Maggie Good and Taylor Chitwood all had multi-hit games for the Jags.

Fort Wayne would strand four runners on base, including two in the first inning, but were unable to bring anyone home. IPFW's season ends with an overall record of 3-45.

Turning Point
IUPUI batting around in the first inning, scoring five runs on three hits to take a 5-0 lead. In the bottom of the second inning, Roni Patterson hit a three-run bomb as part of a four-run inning to put the lead out of reach at 9-0.

Inside The Box Score

• Seven Jaguars recorded at least one base hit in the game and nine different Jags would reach base.
• IUPUI's Morgan Schlobohm drew three walks and scored twice.
• Ali Mosier, Taylor Chitwood and Sarah Lawrence each had one stolen base in the game.
• Of IUPUI's 11 hits, only three went for extra bases.

News & Notes

• IUPUI pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter.
• Roni Patterson's five RBI are tied for second most in any Summit League tournament game.

Up Next
IUPUI advances to the next round of The Summit League Softball Championships and will face No. 2 South Dakota at 2:30 p.m. CT.

ABOUT THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
In its fourth decade of Division I athletics, The Summit League offers 19 championship sports and has a combined enrollment of over 120,000 at nine institutions, including four located in top 60 U.S. metro populations and two land-grant universities. Member institutions include: Denver (University of Denver), Fort Wayne (Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne), IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis), North Dakota State University, Omaha (University of Nebraska Omaha), Oral Roberts University, the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University and Western Illinois University. Previously known as the Mid-Continent Conference, The Summit League rebranded in 2007 and has since produced eight NCAA Champions along with over 65 All-Americans, 60 Academic All-America selections and numerous former student-athletes competing at the highest professional level. For more information about the league and to "See The Summit", visit www.thesummitleague.org, follow on Twitter @thesummitleague, download The Summit League's Front Row app, and watch the weekly "Inside The Summit League" show at www.thesummitleague.org/itsl.

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